A Christmas Story
by kg1507
Summary: TxG Oneshot: Troy and Gabriella spend Christmas Eve together, and Troy is faced with a difficult decision: Let go of his fears... or be consumed by them.


**Hey, it's a little late, but here's my Troyella Christmas one-shot!!!**

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**A Christmas Story**

"Ok, I think… I finally… got it." Troy said as he scribbled on his paper for one last quick moment before sliding his notebook to the opposite side of the coffee table. A hopeful look appeared on his face as he anxiously twisted his pencil in his hands, praying that his study partner would look up, smile, and inform him that his answer was correct. Mostly though, he just hoped she'd look up and smile that dazzling, wonderful smile of hers.

_Stop it_. Troy thought to himself. _You promised yourself you weren't going to think about her like that anymore. _But as Troy watched the beautiful brunette hunched over in the seat just across from him, he found himself wondering once again why he'd made that vow in the first place.

Gabriella scanned his paper with a concentrated air, lightly running her own pencil over line after line of Troy's work while sticking the very tip of her tongue out the side of her mouth, unaware that Troy's eyes flickered to that same spot every few seconds. Taking a deep breath as she came to his last two lines of work, she suddenly let it all out and looked up sadly.

"No, still not right." She said apologetically, as if it'd been her own fault that he couldn't get the answer. She handed a forlorn Troy his notebook back as he let out a frustrated sigh and closed his eyes angrily.

"Are you kidding me?" He asked as he slammed his notebook against the coffee table. "That's the fourth time I've done this problem." Leaning backwards, he ran both of his hands through his thick, light brown hair and let out a groan of irritation. It took Gabriella all she had not to smile at how adorable he looked, even when he wasn't trying to be. She felt her cheeks grow slightly warm, and she attempted to push her subconscious feelings away from the surface of her thoughts. She _had_ to stop thinking about him like this. It wasn't like it was going to get her anywhere… it'd been almost a year since their winter musical callback for Twinkle Town, and the basketball championships… and when Troy and Gabriella had almost shared their kiss before being inconveniently interrupted.

"You're almost there," Gabriella replied with a warm smile. "Just t-t-try again…" A yawn escaped her as her eyelids fluttered for a moment, leaning her head in her hands. Even though it was only about eight pm, she felt oddly drained of all the energy she usually would've had at this time. However, her exhaustion was a good distraction from thinking about Troy… for a few seconds anyway.

Troy watched her doze with an amused sort of look, but also one that was filled with adoration. He loved moments like these, where he could sit there and look at her without her ever knowing just how happy he would be to stay there forever if only time would it. He sighed softly, but with the same little grin on his face.

"I'm sorry you had to deal with me tonight." He said as his heart jumped slightly when her eyes opened at the sound of his voice.

Gabriella gave him a small smile. "I don't mind."

"But it's Christmas Eve…" Troy said, his voice faltering for a moment as their eyes connected for a millisecond. "You should be spending the holidays with your family, and… the people you love…" He began to say something else, but then stopped, his hand flying to the back of his neck and his cheeks turning the lightest shade of pink.

Gabriella felt her stomach turn. She knew that whenever Troy was nervous about something, he would either stutter, blush, or start rubbing the back of his neck. He was now doing all three, but what did that mean exactly? Could he possibly be nervous about _her_?

_No…_ Gabriella said to herself. _No, it's not me. It could never be me. If it was me, he would've done something by now… wouldn't he?_

Taylor had always told Gabriella that the reason Troy hadn't acted on his feelings since the championship game was because he was too afraid to let himself become that vulnerable again. According to Taylor and Chad, Troy hadn't ever had a girlfriend before, and he very rarely expressed any sort of interest in a girl before Gabriella came along. Chad told her that Troy was new at the whole 'girl' thing despite the horde that always seemed to be on his heels, and that it could take awhile before he got the courage to act on impulsive feelings again. Normally, Gabriella would've been happy to wait, partly because she was more than willing to wait for someone as amazing and incredible as Troy, and partly because she knew she'd be too scared herself to make a move in return to their almost-kiss.

But in the last year, Gabriella had grown, and a new confidence had sprouted - one that was willing to take a chance every now and then and had become a little more assertive and a little less patient with Troy's fears. Still though, there was a hint of the old Gabriella deep within that only came out when Troy was around - her greatest setback.

"It doesn't matter if it's Christmas Eve." Gabriella replied. "I like being with you no matter what day it is. Christmas just makes it even better." She gave him another smile, and then gestured to his notebook again. "So, you ready to try that problem again?"

Troy groaned. "Can't we take a break? I'm sick of geometry."

"Troy, you do know that midterms are in two weeks, right?" Gabriella asked, now sitting upright. "I know that this material is going to be on the test."

Troy gave her a sly grin. "Yeah, so that gives me two weeks to figure this stuff out, and two weeks for us to study together. Isn't that something to look forward to?"

_You're always something to look forward to._ "Come on, Troy. Just one more time." Gabriella said, pushing him the notebook.

Troy pushed the notebook back. "Just one minute."

_A minute is all you need to tell me how you feel._ "No." Gabriella pushed it again.

"Yes."

_Yes! I am crazy about you! _"Troy," Gabriella started.

"I'll tickle you." Troy said as his grin widened.

_Please, please touch me. I'm begging you. _"Troy, don't you dare!" Gabriella gave a little yelp as Troy pretended to reach across the table to tickle her, and he chuckled.

"You're so jumpy, you know that?" He said as he reached for her again.

Gabriella glared at him, but her smile was all Troy saw. "Oh yeah? Well, it doesn't matter what you call me, because you're just a - " Suddenly, her attention shifted from Troy to the window behind his head. "Snow…"

"What?" Troy asked with confusion.

"Snow! Troy, it's snowing!" Gabriella exclaimed as she jumped up out of her seat, catching Troy off guard. He turned around, watching her run towards the front door where her coat was hanging on the banister of the stairs. She slid into it and shoved her boots over her feet so quickly that Troy didn't have time to say another word before she had run outside, leaving the door wide open.

"Gabriella?" Troy called, getting up from his chair and going after her as he hastily pulled on his varsity jacket. As he got to the front door, he met a particularly cold gust of wind that sent a chill down his spine, but that cold chill was immediately replaced with a warm, toasty feeling as he watched Gabriella standing in the yard with her back towards him. Her head was raised, watching the cotton-like flakes gently fall like a child who'd never seen such a sight before. Already, there was a two-inch layer of the stuff on the ground, a sure sign that it's been snowing for quite a while.

"Can you believe it, Troy? It's snowing in Albuquerque, New Mexico!" Gabriella exclaimed as she let out a happy little sigh. She loved snow, ever since she was a little kid. It'd been a while since she'd actually seen it though, being that she always seemed to move someplace warmer by the time winter came along. A glow filled her heart as she watched the tiny specks of white seemingly come out of nowhere from the big, black expanse and then fall on her face and clothes, staying for a moment before disappearing into nothing. It was simply the most magical thing she could imagine.

She turned around to face Troy who was still standing in the doorway, looking a little stiff and awkward all of a sudden.

There were white Christmas lights on every bush and every tree trunk in Gabriella's yard, so that it looked sort of like a little winter wonderland. Gabriella had joked around, saying that her family was _really_ into the holiday spirit, and rarely settled down long enough to actually put up lights of their own. She said that she supposed that they were just making up for all those lost years by really decking it out this year.

The lights cast a beautiful luminosity across the entire lawn, making the fallen snow look even more lovely. It had also shimmered it's light upon Gabriella's flawless features, and Troy felt a sudden urge to run down the steps, take her in his arms, and kiss her.

Unfortunately for him, his feet felt like they'd been nailed to the floor.

"Troy, come outside!" Gabriella called with that same adorable smile.

Troy shook his head. "No way, it's freezing out here! You come back in!"

Gabriella rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on! It's not _that_ bad!"

Troy felt his stomach turn slightly again, but shook it off. "No." He said with a coy grin.

Gabriella smirked. "Aww, is the Wildcat superstar _afraid_?"

"No," Troy replied, looking down for a moment. "Just sane."

"I think you're afraid." Gabriella said simply. "But, I'll give you a chance to prove yourself." Bending over, but still keeping her eyes on him, she gathered up enough snow to make a small, messy snowball and grinned. "Don't move, and I'll believe you're brave!" And then, she threw the snowball at him, just barely missing as Troy jumped to the side and let it sail through the door and into the house.

"Oh, you missed me!" Troy yelled as he began laughing.

Gabriella put her hands on her hips and smirked again. "Well, I wouldn't have missed if you hadn't moved!"

"Maybe you would've gotten me if you had better aim!" Troy replied with wide eyes.

Gabriella gave a little sound of indignation and bent down to make another snowball.

"Let's see you dodge this one!" She said as she began to run towards him.

Troy knew that he _could_ just close the door and leave her out in the cold, refusing to let her back in, but instead decided that that would be way too easy. Quickly closing the door and jumping off all the porch steps in a single leap, he started running to the opposite side of the house where he could hear Gabriella chasing after him. A white blur whizzed by his face and he stopped running, turning around to face her.

"Oh boy, looks like you need the master to teach you some snowball fight skills." Troy said slowly as he began to make his own snowball. He grinned at the horrified look on Gabriella's face and silently walked towards her.

"Troy, Troy - don't you dare. Troy, I-I mean it! Get away!" Gabriella said as she began to back off. Troy ignored her and just kept going, picking up a little more speed and smiling an insane-like smile.

As an excited, scared, and thrilling sensation filled her stomach, Gabriella turned and bolted. She heard a battle cry sound and laughed, but then Troy suddenly emerged, chasing after her with full speed. Gabriella yelled and began to run in a zigzag pattern, trying to confuse him. However, this just seemed to cause Troy to run even faster, and was soon right on her heels.

"Troy!" Gabriella screeched.

Troy didn't answer, but instead reached forward with one arm and wrapped it around her stomach and pulled her to him, stuffing the ball of snow down her back and then using his now-free hand to keep his grip on her, ensuring that she didn't go anywhere.

Gabriella screamed as the icy snow fell down her shirt and began to wiggle around, trying to get it out. Troy pulled her closer, so that her back was right up against his chest and leaving no gap for the snow to escape. Gabriella shrieked and tried to pull apart Troy's arms.

"Troy! Stop it! Please, stop!" She laughed, but she knew there was no way Troy was going to let go.

Troy was laughing now too, and struggled to hold onto her as he pulled her backwards, away from the front door where she was now trying to get away. Somehow, as they both pulled, Gabriella's foot got wrapped around Troy's, and before either of them knew it, they both came crashing to the ground in one big pile. Troy's grip loosened, and Gabriella took this moment to make a getaway. But before she'd even gotten up on her feet, Troy had pulled her back down and rolled her over to his other side, using one of his hands to fling snow at her face. Gabriella screamed again, but she too began to chuck it back at him, laughing even harder as they began a snow war. Suddenly, Troy hurled himself at her, knocking her down as he locked his arms around her waist. He shivered as he felt her lips briefly graze his ear in the process.

Gabriella placed both of her hands on his shoulders and with one mighty push, she shoved him to the side, feeling her back leave the ground as she too went with him and found herself on top of his body. Troy rolled over as she had, and since his arms were still securely entangled around her waist, she came too. The continued to do this a few more times, their laughter growing stronger by the second until suddenly, the two collided with something hard and woody, sending a shower of snow on them upon contact. They'd run straight into some bushes, and had nowhere else left to roll.

They exploded with laughter, and Troy rubbed the sore spot on his head where it had rammed into the trunk of the bush.

"Are - Are you ok?" Gabriella asked with a grin, feeling a natural high and exhaustion at the same time.

Troy grinned back. "Yeah, I'm fine. That was some fight you put up though!"

Gabriella giggled and closed her eyes for a moment, sighing deeply. She felt so happy, as if nothing could ever make this night horrible as long as Troy was there. He made her feel so wonderful…

Suddenly, she felt her heart skip a beat. Opening her eyes very slowly, she saw Troy leaning overtop of her with an abruptly fearful look on his face.

Troy felt positively frozen, and he wasn't talking about the cold. Here she was… the girl of his dreams, laying there right underneath him. She looked so beautiful, the light from the Christmas lights shining against her perfectly-tanned skin, the snow falling onto her eyelashes, glimmering as she blinked. Those eyes… staring so intensely back into his. Their breaths came out quick and heavy, still tired out from their chase.

Gabriella suddenly realized that she'd neglected to put on gloves before running outside, and could now barely feel her hands - being so cold. They felt numb, and were beginning to tingle slightly, but she ignored it as Troy moved his head a little closer towards hers.

He could feel her warm breath on his face, making him feel incredibly hot despite the falling snow plus what had found it's way down his shirt. The short, tepid rushes of air seemed to thaw out his icy surface, and he swallowed nervously. Reaching out with one hand, he gently brushed off the snow that had landed on her face, feeling her flinch in the smallest at his touch. His hands were freezing, but strangely, she didn't want him to ever move.

When the last of the snow had been wiped away, Troy paused, letting his hand linger on her cheek. He suddenly felt a strong wave of desire fill him up, and he began to let it take over despite all his fear. He leaned closer, feeling the warmth of her breath intensify and quicken.

"Troy…" Gabriella whispered. "What are you doing?"

Troy lifted his hand off her cheek and pushed back a strand of her hair behind her ear. "Something I shouldn't have waited until now to do." He replied. They were just inches away now, one move separating them from the kiss they'd each been longing to share since last year. Gabriella's eyes shut in anticipation, her heart pounding a mile a minute. And then…

Troy felt the weight drop back into his stomach, and his short-lived courage disappeared. He sighed, and then pulled back.

"My geometry homework." He said, feeling like a complete failure.

Gabriella's eyes snapped open, staring up at Troy's averted face. She felt like a pile of bricks had been dropped onto her heart, crushing it into little tiny pieces.

_Geometry… NOW he wants to do geometry? _Gabriella screamed in her mind as Troy got off of her and stood up, shaking the snow out of his hair. He offered her his hand.

"We should go back inside now." Troy said, still not really looking her in the eye. He was feeling a lot of things at the moment - embarrassment, humiliation, disappointment to name a few.

Gabriella paused, and then took his hand and let him help her up, feeling incredibly let down. She didn't speak, not knowing what else to say except, _"Why?"_

"Gabriella?" Troy said, stopping in his tracks. He looked down at her as she fought to look at him, the rock in her throat growing a little bit bigger.

"I'm sorry." Troy said softly, looking at the ground again. He really was sorry, but what for, he wasn't quite sure.

"It's ok." Gabriella replied, forcing a smile that made her cheeks feel like putty. "Let's just go inside."

Troy gave her a small smile and nodded, leading the way towards the door and concentrating on the crunching sound his feet made in the snow instead of how awful he felt inside.

"No, you know what, it's not ok." Gabriella said suddenly as she stopped, crossing her arms around her stomach as Troy turned to face her. Her eyes were no longer filled with the bright, happy glow he'd just seen, but now blazed with an angry fire.

"What - "

"Troy, do you honestly think I'm going to wait around for you forever?" Gabriella demanded, her voice losing all of its gentleness. "I've been incredibly patient this past year, and my patience is starting to run out." Her tone raised a little, and grew with each few words.

"Taylor told me it was because you were a little shy, and I understood that. Chad said you were new at this sort of thing, so I accepted it. But God, Troy, it's been _a year_! How long could it _possibly_ take?"

Troy was completely lost, and then realized that his confused expression was not helping.

Gabriella continued, letting all her frustrations out in the open. "After a while, I just thought that you didn't feel anything anymore, so I tried to let it go. But then, you started doing and saying all these little things that made me wonder if it was just your way of flirting, and… you made me feel like…" She stopped, fighting back tears.

"So, come on, Troy." Gabriella said, lowing her voice as she walked over so that she was right in front of him. She stared him straight in the eye with a piercing gaze.

"Tell me. Just tell me how you _really_ feel."

Troy was frozen again - nothing was working right inside. Every single muscle felt numb, even his brain. They both stood there, staring into each other's eyes, Gabriella's growing wetter with each passing second. His whole head felt like mush, unable to think or process.

_Come on - letters…words… sentences… Say it… open mouth… do… something…_

His mouth opened, but nothing came out. Not a single sound.

Gabriella felt positively crushed, and she dropped her head for a few seconds before lifting it back. Her once-dry cheeks were now dripping with fresh, hot tears, and Troy's heart broke.

Gabriella scoffed, her wet eyes remaining hard but sorrowful. "I knew it… the Wildcat superstar _is_ afraid…" And shaking her head with incredulity, she walked straight past him and towards her front door, wiping her eyes as she went and forcing down a sob. She'd been so sure… so sure that he would've said what she wanted to hear. But he didn't.

Troy remained, his heart pounding faster than it'd ever gone in his life. Faster than the thrill of a basketball game, even. His mushy brain was slowly turning back into solid form, and his senses started to return. And the very first thing his conscious screamed at him when he was able to think again was…

_WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?_

Yes… exactly. What _was_ he doing? In that moment, Troy regained feeling back in his muscles and realized what he had and so desperately wanted to do. Wheeling around, he sprinted to Gabriella, who was just beginning to reach the first porch step and grabbed her arm. She was unexpectedly pulled back and turned around to look at him with surprise, and her heart literally jumped ten feet at what he did next. Putting one hand on Gabriella's waist and the other cupping her cheek, Troy leaned forward without another moment of hesitation and kissed her.

Gabriella was at a complete standstill, shocked by Troy's out of the blue actions. They stood like that for a moment, but as Troy pulled back, Gabriella had soaked in the reality of it all and leaned towards him, capturing his lips with hers. Her arms snaked around his neck where they lightly rested, and really began to enjoy this long-awaited moment of theirs. The kiss intensified, growing more passion-filled and desperate as Gabriella felt her limbs grow weaker and weaker.

After a few moments, Troy pulled back again and they both took deep, quick breaths, their eyes never leaving each other's.

"I love you." Troy said, stroking the side of her face with his thumb. "I've always loved you... You're right, I was afraid - but I'm saying it now. Gabriella Montez, _I love you._"

Gabriella smiled, another tear falling down her cheek and dripping off as another merged with it. She moved closer and tightly embraced him, burying her head in his chest as his strong arms draped over her lower back. Grinning a happy, blissful smile, she closed her eyes and breathed in deeply.

"I knew it… I knew it all along."


End file.
